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Fred H. Cate
Professor of Law and Louis F. Niezer Faculty Fellow
Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington
 Cate
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Arnove is misleading, however, when he writes that "universities should try less to attend to the interests of Fortune 500 companies." Nationwide, about one-third of all licenses for intellectual property involve Fortune 500 companies. The same is true at IU, where the vast majority of licenses are with small- and medium-sized companies, precisely those that Arnove lauds in his column.
And I disagree with his conclusion that "universities should get out of the business of intellectual property rights." Universities, especially public universities, have an obligation to disseminate the fruits of their research and creative activity. It is naive to think that we can do so effectively just by disclosing them in journals and at conferences. It is only through partnerships with organizations with the experience and the resources to make practical applications available that the public will enjoy the benefits.
In just one arena -- health care -- universities have contributed discoveries leading to treatments and even cures for life-threatening diseases. The public would have benefitted from none of these discoveries had they not been put into practical application. This, as I am sure Arnove would agree, is the business of commercial organizations, not the university.
Moreover, a comprehensive, five-year survey released in February showed that in 1995, the last year for which we have complete data, inventions and discoveries licensed by universities contributed more than $21 billion to the global economy and supported 180,000 jobs.
Finally, it is difficult to imagine why we should we not ask commercial entities to share a portion of the value resulting from research it has supported. That return -- $424 million worldwide in 1995 -- provides an important reward for individual labor and creativity, an incentive for future work, and a small but growing contribution to funding future research and creative activity within the university.
It would be irresponsible for the university to stop seeking to disseminate the fruits of its research or to waive its rights and those of its faculty to a fair portion of the value resulting from often time-consuming and expensive work. Clearly, this activity raises important policy issues for the entire community. But we have progressed far in addressing many of those issues, and we are fortunate to have in place both a framework for future discussion, and faculty and administrators who are committed to continuing that dialogue.
Editor's note: Access Arnove's Viewpoint at this archival Web site:
http://www.iuinfo.indiana.edu/homepages/013098/0130text/viewpoint.htm
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